Keeping Warm
by grandmelon
Summary: Sousuke's hands are always cold, and Rin knows it. (pre-relationship kid crushes, SouRin Xmas Xchange fic)


**Title:** Keeping Warm  
 **Fandom:** Free!  
 **Pairings:** Rin/Sousuke  
 **Rating:** PG  
 **Word Count:** 4k  
 **Warnings:** N/A  
 **Summary:**

Sousuke's hands are always cold, and Rin knows it. (pre-relationship kid crushes)

 **For:** tumblr user **kjosi** (for the  SouRin Xmas Xchange hosted by tumblr user **ice-teal** ) **  
**

 **A/N:**

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I hope you like it!

* * *

Keeping Warm

Cold wind bit into dry cheeks, stealing the breaths of two boys as they trekked home from school. They turned their heads away, sucking in air the best they could. The relentless sea wind reached them even there, a harsh and powerful thing. Strands of hair whipped into a disgruntled boy's eyes and mouth before settling again.

"Rin wait, wear my hat," the other boy ordered, pulling soft cotton over messy hair. "At least this way you won't be eating your own hair."

"Thanks," Rin mumbled, tugging the hat down further.

Three hands were pulling and tucking away unruly hair, stuffing it into the hat. The one that didn't belong pulled back when it finished tucking one last loose lock behind Rin's ear. The gentle cold tips of his friend's fingers causing Rin's ears warm. He pulled the hat over them, trying to quell the tingling feeling left behind.

"Won't you be cold Sousuke?" he asked, staring at his now barren friend. He was answered with a shrug, his face already paler than before. Sousuke's cheeks and nose red from the wind.

"It's fine," he mumbled, stuffing his cold fingers back into his jacket pockets. "Let's just go home already."

"Wait!" Rin said, stopping him from moving onward. He untied the scarf around his neck and pulled it free, wrapping it around Sousuke and tying it. "You don't even have gloves idiot. You're going to get a cold."

"Am not," Sousuke muttered, though he pulled the scarf up his face further, covering his chin and mouth. Rin didn't say anything, though he smiled before another harsh wind blew against them. It was so strong it almost pushed them over, feet slipping on slick sidewalk. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Rin agreed, huddling close to his friend as they powered through the wind.

His hands were wrapped around his backpack straps in a tight grip as they walked down their street, gloves protecting his skin from the icy air. He was glad that his mom had made him bring them, though he wished he had thought to bring spares for Sousuke. Sousuke never wore gloves, though his hands were always cold.

Rin's gaze lifted from his friend's pocketed hands, shifting to the houses in view. He wondered how much gloves were and if his allowance would be enough to pay for a pair as they made their way home.

~~xx~~

"Onii-chan, wake up!"

Rin groaned and cracked open his eyes. The light pouring into his room was brighter than usual, and Gou was standing at his bedside, shaking him awake. He sat up with a huff, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

"What is it Gou?"

"Snow!" She cheered, running away from him and over to the window. Rin jumped up out of bed at the mention, foot snagging on the covers and nearly toppling him over as he scrambled to the window. They both peered out, hot breath fogging the cold glass as they saw the white that covered their lawn. Flakes were still falling, swirling around in a gentle dance.

"Whoa," Rin whispered in awe. Just yesterday their lawn was nothing but frostbitten grass and dead leaves.

"We're going out to play, aren't we?" Gou asked him and Rin nodded, dashing out his bedroom door. He grabbed the home phone and dialed up the only number he had memorized besides their own. It rang a few times before a woman answered.

"Good morning Rin-kun," the woman over the line laughed. Rin's cheeks grew hot but he shook it off. Whenever it would snow Rin would always call to ask if Sousuke could come over to play.

"Morning Mrs. Yamazaki, can Sousuke come over to play?" He asked, eyeing down the hallway as he saw his sister grabbing their snow gear out of the hallway closet. A huge mess left in her wake, her mother behind her picking up the gloves and hats she had dropped.

"Of course he can. He's already up actually! I told him it was snowing and got right out of bed, isn't that something? I think he knew you'd be calling," Sousuke's mother giggled. Rin made a strangled noise in his throat, not knowing what to say. He liked Sousuke's mom but it was always weird talking to her on the phone like that. He wished Sousuke would answer the phone every once in a while.

"Okay, thank you Mrs. Yamazaki. My mom will call you when he arrives," he said, drawing circles with his fingers into the wall. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye Rin-kun, he'll be over soon!"

Rin hummed and ended the call, still unsure of when it was best to end conversations like that. He ignored how awkward he felt in favor of running to the kitchen where his mother was helping Gou into her snow boots while she ate her cereal. Rin grabbed the box and milk on the table, pouring himself a bowl. He started shoveling spoonfuls into his mouth without a care, trying to finish as quick as he could.

"Slow down! You two are always in such a hurry, I'm sure Sousuke-kun will take a little to get here," his mother chided them. "So impatient."

"Hey mom, how much are gloves?" Rin asked, stilling the spoon in front of his mouth. His mother looked up at him before tying Gou's other boot and pulling her snow pants down to cover it.

"Why? Did you lose yours again? Rin I already bought you a pair this year," she scolded him. Rin rolled his eyes.

"I didn't lose them mom! I was just wondering," he grumbled. "Sousuke never wears gloves to school so I thought he might need a pair."

His mother stopped for a second before she smiled at him, putting away the cereal and the milk. Rin ate his cereal in silence, not liking how long she was taking to talk to him. He heard the doorbell ring but before he could get up Gou was already making a break for the door.

"Sousuke-kun!" she squealed, Rin having heard her even in the kitchen.

He drank the left over milk in his bowl before heading over to the front door. Gou was chatting his ear off about making a snowman and an igloo while Sousuke quietly took it. Rin pushed past his sister and held out his fist. A hand covered in gloves too big for him met his, twin grins on their faces.

"You're early today," Rin commented, a teasing tone to his voice as he stepped back. He took notice of how large Sousuke's snow gloves were, likely his mom's based on the style and color. He didn't bother to comment as he grabbed his snow gear off of the bench where his mom had put it.

"Figured you'd be whining until I got here anyways," Sousuke scoffed.

Rin ignored him, throwing on his snow pants and stuffing his feet into his boots. He put on his gloves and stuffed them through his jacket sleeves so that his wrists wouldn't get wet when he was outside. Sousuke and Gou watched him in silence as he zipped up his jacket, with a great deal of difficulty, and pulled a hat down around his head.

"Alright!" Rin exclaimed with a grin on his face. Gou was already opening up the door and rushing out into the blinding light. Sousuke and Rin ran after her, Rin slamming the door shut behind him.

~~xx~~

"Giving up already?" Sousuke asked, flopping down into the snow with him. Rin hummed, eyes closed as snowflakes fell on to his face. His back was getting damp, but he didn't mind, breath coming out too heavy and skin too warm. That snowball fight tired him right out.

Rin cracked one eye open, gazing at his friend who was sitting with his arms on his knees, holding up his head. He was watching the snow fall with passing interest. Rin tensed for a second and rolled, shooting his arms up and pushing Sousuke down into the snow. Sousuke gasped in surprise before his arms went up to protect his face, Rin already grabbing some snow.

"I win!" Rin exclaimed, though their scores had been long forgotten. Sousuke scoffed, waiting for Rin to smash the snow onto him. Rin sat up a triumphant grin on his face. "If you beg I'll stop," he snickered.

Sousuke pulled his hands away from his face, but before Rin could realize what he was doing snow was mushed into the back of his head. His hat provided little protection, soaking up the water as it began to melt on him. Sousuke started to laugh as Rin's trademark pout appeared, lip jutting out and turning his face away from his friend.

"Oh come on," Sousuke chuckled. "I didn't mean to make you upset. You were the one who was playing dirty first!"

Rin just got off him and rolled over in the snow, ignoring him. Frustrated tears pricked at his eyes, but he did deserve it. He should have just thrown in the towel while he was ahead. He glanced over at Sousuke who watching him, also laying in the snow. Rin saw the deep blue the light colored gloves had become, soaked with snow.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked, staring at Sousuke's hands as their heads melted the snow beneath them. Now that they weren't running around even he was getting chilly. "We should probably go inside soon."

"Calling it quits already?" Sousuke teased and Rin grimaced, shifting around.

"No! It's just that you're going to get sick if we keep this up. Your gloves are soaked!"

"Sure Matsuoka, that's why," Sousuke laughed, though his voice was drowned out by a shrill cry.

"Sneak Attack!"

Rin and Sousuke had just enough time to turn towards the noise when snow hit them. It was soft and fell apart as it hit Rin's cheek, icy bitterness stinging into his skin. He wiped it off and saw Gou on her stomach in front of them, a grin on her face. She had lifted up one of the huge clumps and used her whole body to throw it.

"Ow, ow! It's cold!" Sousuke hissed and Rin's gaze left her, turning to Sousuke who had the brunt of the attack. The pile of snow all in his lap, and his face covered. It was in his eyes and on his cheeks, and some pieces had begun to fall into his jacket collar.

"Sousuke-kun?" Gou's gentle voice called out, scared and upset that she had done something wrong. Rin didn't bother scold his sister, knowing that she didn't mean for that to happen. He pulled off his gloves and touched Sousuke's cold face, rubbing away the melting snow from his eyes and forehead.

"Hold on," he insisted as Sousuke tried to wipe it away himself, only managing to somehow increase the snow on his face. He started wiping the snow away from his eyes and nose, pulling it down his cheeks and brushing it away. He grabbed a few of the big clumps melting on Sousuke's neck. Rin's hands ached in pain from the sharp coldness of the ice.

"Sousuke-kun are you okay!?" Gou cried, scooting closer to them, finally finding her voice again. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Sousuke assured her, though his face still showed that he was in pain, eyes screwed up tight, not opening them.

Rin wiped his fingers on the driest part of his hat before placing both of his palms onto Sousuke's cheeks, covering his eyes with his fingers. His hands were cold, but Sousuke was even colder, so what little warmth his hands could give him he would. His mother would always do this for him when he got snow in his eyes to stop the aching. Gou followed suit, taking off her gloves and putting her warmer fingers on his face, trying her best to help.

After the pain subsided, which Rin saw in the way Sousuke's face started to relax and wasn't scrunched up anymore, Sousuke started to laugh. Rin laughed too, influenced by the sound, and even Gou started to giggle. Sousuke grabbed Rin's hand with his own gloved one, unintentionally confirming to Rin that it was as painfully cold and wet as it looked.

"What are you two doing?"

"Does it feel better?" They asked in unison, and Sousuke's laugh choked up for a second, embarrassed.

"Yeah," he admitted, and they pulled their hands away. He raised an eyebrow at them, looking confused. "What was that all about?"

"When you get snow in your eyes you have to warm them back up or else they hurt," Gou informed him.

"It's something our mom does," Rin added before standing up. He grabbed his gloves from the snowy ground and beat them against his snow suit, trying to get off the clumps. "I think we should go inside."

"Okay," Gou sighed, also standing up.

Rin held out a hand for Sousuke who was still sitting in the snow watching them. Sousuke grinned and grabbed on, letting himself be pulled up. Rin gave the boy a once over before frowning. Sousuke was even paler now, his lips blue despite warming him up. At the very least his cheeks had gotten a little redder than they were when he had snow on them.

"Now you're really going to get sick, Sousuke."

"Am not."

~~xx~~

Rin watched his mother peeling away the sticker from the gloves, a rising irritation growing at how slow she had been to get to them. There on the table lay other gifts for friends and family. All had to have their price tags removed before they were wrapped, and of course his mother chose to take off the sticker for the gloves last. Gou was already folding wrapping paper over a present she got for her friend.

Rin was bouncing with impatience by the time his mom relinquished the gloves to him after making sure that the sticker was properly removed. He grabbed them and ran to the other side of the table. He rolled them up in green tissue paper before stuffing them into one of the candy cane colored bags. He stuck a silver bow on the bag for good measure before grabbing a piece of red cardstock paper and a pack of crayons, running to his room to finish the job.

Rin flipped the light on and slapped the paper down onto his desk, sitting the bag on the floor next to it before sliding into his chair. He picked up the two sides and folded the paper to make a card, running his finger along the edge to flatten it out. Once he was done he pulled out a dark green crayon and tapped his chin.

Deciding that he'd write first and draw later, he started to write out Merry Christmas in big block letters on the top of the front cover. Finishing that much he opened up the card, coughing into his arm once before writing Sousuke's name. He paused for just a moment, trying to figure out if his card should be heartfelt or funny. He started writing, intent on first teasing his friend before adding a meaningful post script.

"Onii-chan, what're you doing?"

Rin jumped in his chair, turning around to see Gou standing behind him. He looked back at the card, now seeing a green line stretching across the bottom corner. He tried his best to turn it into a tiny Christmas tree.

"Gou! You almost made me ruin the card," he scolded only after fixing it. "What if I had to redo it?"

"Sorry," she apologized without much sincerity behind it, too curious about what her brother was writing. "This is for Sousuke-kun? I want to write in it too!"

"You have to make your own card Gou," Rin whined, knowing she'd take up all of the space on his. "If you don't Sousuke will be really sad."

"He will?" Gou asked, eyes wide with concern.

She ran out of the room then, intent on getting paper for herself. Rin rolled his eyes and turned back to the red piece of paper. Once he was satisfied with the inside he set to drawing a giant Christmas tree and presents on the cover. He colored in ornaments on his tree and made sure to put a star at the top. Deciding to make things more interesting he drew a snowman to the right of the tree.

When Gou came back she had her arms full of glitter glue and a white paper in her hands. Rin smiled and sat down on the floor, telling her to lay it out flat. He helped her fold the paper and write Merry Christmas. He bit back giggles when Gou drew the three of them in snow, Sousuke covered in it. A tiny sorry in red crayon sat just below it, another apology for the accident.

Under her request he helped her make a fancy tree on the cover like his, only hers was full of glitter glue to make tinsel and the star shine. Even her ornaments sparkled. Rin didn't say anything but he felt like his card paled a little in comparison now, but he knew he'd only be teased if he tried any harder.

"Sousuke-kun is coming over for Christmas isn't he Onii-chan?" Gou asked, coloring in some odd shaped boxes with squiggles on top that appeared to be presents.

"Yeah," Rin answered, sneezing into his elbow. His nose head started to run and he wondered if he was allergic to the glitter glue. His head started hurting too. "Sousuke's mom and dad said he could. They don't do anything for Christmas."

"That's boring," Gou decided after a minute of silent deliberation. Rin laughed, but it tickled his lungs in a weird way and he started to cough. "Onii-chan are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think it's the glitter," Rin said after his coughing fit was over. Gou watched him with worried eyes.

"Maybe you're sick Onii-chan," she hummed, putting her hand on his forehead. He brushed her off and scoffed.

"I'm not sick, Gou. It's just the glitter glue," he grumbled, coughing more into his arm. Gou ignored him, running off to their mom about it.

Rin started cleaning up the rest of the mess and slipping his card into the bag. When he stood up everything came in a rush and his hand shot up to his head feeling rather dizzy all of a sudden. He thought then that maybe he shouldn't have helped Gou with her card, because there was no way he was sick.

~~xx~~

The irony of the situation was not lost on Rin, if only because Sousuke had laughed as soon as he got there about how after all of his badgering Rin was the one who got sick. Rin felt gross and stuffy, his breath hot against his face, forced back on him with his mask. His nose was runny and the sluggishness he felt was worse than trudging uphill through snow.

"Onii-chan, here," Gou said with a cheerful tone, holding out a card for him. He opened it up and smiled. In it was a drawing of the three of them building a snowman.

"Sousuke-kun, this one is for you!"

Sousuke took the card from her with a smile and handed her a small box. He looked at the card and thanked her for it. Rin chuckled with Gou as Sousuke made a face at the drawing and told her it was alright, and she didn't need to worry about it anymore. She tore open her box from Sousuke with little care, jumping up in down in joy when she saw the bracelet inside. It consisted of round pink and red beads connected together with a silver chain.

"Thank you Sousuke-kun," she said with a big smile. She slipped it on her wrist and grabbed the bag on the floor, handed it to him. "This is from Onii-chan!"

Sousuke laughed and leaned over to hand Rin his gift. Rin grabbed it, wondering why it was so heavy before going into a sneezing fit. His eyes watered and he groaned as the other two looked at him with pitying frowns. He knew he was going to get an earful as soon as Sousuke opened his present but he tried to ignore the inkling of anxiety in his stomach. He just hoped Sousuke wouldn't take it as a joke since it wasn't meant to be as he opened up his own present.

Rin took off the yellow ribbon and tore apart the paper. Inside was just an unassuming brown cardboard box. He ripped off the tap at the top and opened up, gasping when he saw what was inside. He pulled out a heavy little snow glob. He shook it a little and grinned when the tiny fake snow swirled around the harbor. The water looked like ice and the ships and buildings covered in permanent snow.

"Thanks Sousuke!"

"You're welcome. Figured you'd like it," Sousuke answered with a short chuckle.

"This is so cool," Rin whispered in awe as he shook it again. Gou watched in fascination, not saying a single word. "Man my present is so lame compared to this."

Sousuke laughed as he pulled out the wrapped tissue paper, unfolding it instead of tearing it apart. Rin looked up and watched with bated breath as Sousuke finally saw the gloves. A smile spread across his face so Rin could only assume that he hadn't made too much of a mistake. Sousuke turned them over in his hands before unclasping them from each other and trying them on.

"Thanks Rin. These are really nice," he said finally looking at him. Rin gulped, feeling only a little guilty his present wasn't flashy or cool like what Sousuke got him.

"Are you sure? I was just thinking I never saw you with any gloves of your own so," he trailed off. Sousuke shook his head.

"These are perfect. I lost my last pair," he told him. He pulled the gloves off his hands and put them back into the bag. "Now I can play in the snow without worrying too much. Thanks Rin."

Rin adjusted his party hat, feeling a little embarrassed. He turned around and put his snow glob on his lower shelf underneath his paper tree and fake snowman. He was about to ask again if it was alright when Gou stood up, yawning.

"I'm going to ask mom if there's more cake," she proclaimed and she looked over at Rin. "Want more medicine?"

"I'm fine Gou," he mumbled, before he sighed knowing she was right. He was beginning to feel cruddy again and didn't want it to get worse. "But if mom says I should I will. Do you want more cake Sousuke?"

"Nah. I'm okay," he hummed.

"Okay, I'll be back with medicine for Onii-chan," Gou said with a salute. Rin and Sousuke smiled at her as she left the room, yelling for their mom as soon as she was out the door. Rin started coughing again and Sousuke stood up and shifted closer to him on the bed, putting his own cool hand against his forehead.

"And you were worried about me getting sick," he murmured, no mockery in his tone. "You're really burning up."

"I feel cold," Rin said, pulling his blanket up as far as he could. Sousuke got up for a second and helped him bundle up before sitting back on the bed. He grabbed one of the books Gou had left on the floor, one about a snowman that came to life. He crawled over onto the other side of Rin and grabbed the blue pillows making him a back rest.

Rin scooted down in his bed until he was laying down, yawning. He was feeling rather tired that day. He blamed Gou, she nearly fell asleep when they first had cake. He peeked up at Sousuke and saw that the other was looking at him, a strange look on his face before he flipped to the front of the book.

"Want me to read it to you?" Sousuke asked, and Rin coughed some more, curling on his side closer to Sousuke. Sousuke's legs warming him even through the blanket. He nodded and Sousuke started reading about the magic snowman. Rin didn't even notice when Gou had returned, only noticing her when she had laid her head on Rin's bed and asked Sousuke to read another story.


End file.
